Electric Wizard

Black Masses

[11/01/10 | Rise Above Records]

Few bands will ever reach the recognition that Electric Wizard have over fans of any sort of metal. The falses, the true, and everyone in between know that Electric Wizard don their stoner doom crowns rightfully. Their ’97 release Come My Fanatics… blew heads off with it’s unrelenting atmosphere, incredible riffage, and unsurpassed heaviness.

As a band, they’ve always felt best with letting you completely lose yourself in each and every one of their albums. This is the case for myself. There isn’t a single album by these guys that I can’t just sit there, listen to, and enjoy everything. Even the less atmospheric Witchcult Today reeks of this mentality. The very second this album starts off you know what’s about to happen, and soon it all sets in place.

The opening track “Black Mass” lends itself to even more psychedelia than any previous release from the group. The vocals are bleated, and drowned out in the mix from the overbearing instrumental work. This sounds like a complaint, but with this type of sound it works out really well. The vocals get into the back of your mind while everything else runs fluidly through your body giving you a contact high without the drugs.

Some of the key elements to a great stoner doom tone is a killer rhythm section and the haziest guitars you’ve ever heard. Electric Wizard bring just that. At no point do I think X instrument is more present over Y, everything falls into place and just lets you listen to what they have to bring. Each person lends their self to an integral part of the tone. The heaviness is retained, leaving you not only dazed, but crushed after each time listening to it.

I adore this album and I believe that anyone who mildly enjoys this type of metal will get their kicks out of this. England remain the kings of the mighty doom, still.